Apparatus for making ply-board



Aug. 6, 1935. A. e. LEONARD, JR 2,

APPARATUS FOR MAKING PLY -BOARD Filed Aug. 13, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet [44 d mnfhgxags Aug. 6, 1935. A. G. LEONARD,.JR 1

APPARATUS FOR MAKING FLY-BOARD V Filed Aug. 13, 1954 a Sheets-Sheet 2 www w Aug. 6, 1935. A. G. LEONARD, JR 2,010,303

APPARATUS'FOR MAKING PLY-BQARD 7 Filed Aug. 15, 1954 s Sheets-Sheet a Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR MAKING FLY-BOARD Arthur G. Leonard, Jr., Wilmington, Ill., assignor to Orenda Corporation; Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application August 13, 1934, Serial No. 739,515

' In Canada April 19, 1934 16 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for making asbestos shingle. stock or any similar material which is formed by accumulation of successive layers. It is the common practice in such. apparatus, when used for asbestos roofing, to wind.

the wet paper-like web of asbestos fibers and cement onto an accumulation drum or roll until the desired thickness is secured, and then to sever the asbestos plyboard thus formed and strip it from the roll. When a heavy thickness -is desired. the entire operation becomes very cliflicult, since even if the strip is out every few and strips the built up plyboard from the accumulation roll pneumatically. If desired, the control for the stripping features may be manual, although, as illustrated, it is contemplated having complete automatic control. The cutting is accomplished by means of two knives carried by a chain, which is so geared to the roll that during each revolution one of the knives makes a stroke across the width of the roll, neither of the knives being in a cutting position as they pass I the bottom of the roll where they would injure the paper forming or conveying apron if cutting took place at that time. The stripping is initiated by means of compressed air which is blown through a line of holes adjacent to the cut-and completed by gravity.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto. A

In the drawings, which illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and wherein like reference broken away in part and-somewhat diagrammatic.

Although my invention may take many forms, only one has been chosen for illustration. The apparatus to which this invention applies may comprise an accumulation roll 2 mounted above a pressure and support roll 4 between which runs the apron 6 on which the paper or the like is formed by suitable apparatus such as a paper forming machine, not shown, the drum and vat type being most commonly used for asbestos roofing. The roll 2 is carried on the shaft 8 which passes through suitable hearings in in brackets l2 which may be pivoted at M and limited in their downward pivotal movement by a screw and wheel adjustment means l6. Accumulation roll 2 may be pulled downward in any suitable manner, as by the pull rod 18 and the weighted lever 20, which may carry an adjustable weight, not shown. In front of the rolls may be located a suitable conveyor 22, and the space hetween it and the rolls may be bridged by a suitable guideway 24. In Figure 1 the plyboard 26 is shown just as it is beingstripped from the roll 7 2. This plyboard may be asbestos shingle stock, or binder board stock, or any such similar material. The paper web is carried by'the fabric apron 6 to the accumulation roll 2 to which it adheres, and it is wound up on said accumulation roll until it reaches the desired thickness,

at which time it is stripped therefrom, as indicated in Figure 1.

Figures 2, 3 and 4 illustrate in detail the structure used for cutting the plyboard as it is wound on the roll. The collar 28 is rigidly mounted on the hub 30 of the roll, and to this collar is secured a' frame 32. Carried in this frame is a shaft 34 on which is mounted a sprocket 36. At the other end of the roll another sprocket 38 is carried by a shaft 39 suitably and preferably adjustably supported from screw studs 40. A chain 44 is carried by said sprockets 36 and 38. The active run of the chain extending through the'slot 46 in the roll. For convenience of construction the slot 46 may be formed in an insert 48. The chain 46 carries blades 50 and 5|, one of which is located exactly half the chain length from the other. The sprocket 36 which rotates the chain 44 is in turn rotated by the shaft 34, which is rotated by a beveled gear 53 keyed thereto. The beveled gear 53 meshes with another beveled gear 55 which is keyed to a shaft 56 to which is also keyed a pinion The pinion 58 meshes with a ring gear 60 which is keyed to one of the brackets l2. The return run to the center of the roll than the slot 46.

The ratio of the various gears is such that the chain M makes exactly one-half cycle for every revolution of the roll 2. The diameter of the sprockets 36 and 38 is large enough so-that the knives 59 and 5| are passing around said sprockets during the time the slot 48 is near the bottom of the roll 2, since otherwise such knives would cut the apron 6. Of course not only must the sprockets be the right size, but the position of the knives 59 along the chain 99 must be correct for accomplishing this result.

From the foregoing it should be obvious that as the paper web is wound around the accumulation roll 2 the gears 58, 55 and 53 cause the chain to draw either the knife 58 or the knife 5! through the slot 46 once every revolution, and as the slot approaches the bottom of the run the knife is drawn out of the slot to a harmless position.

The insert 48 may be drilled with a plurality of tubular blow-out-passages 68 which communicate with a chamber 68 below said insert. Communicating with this chamber may be suitable piping 10 which communicates with a central pipe 14 at the axis of the accumulation roll 2. For a better distribution of air there may be a plurality of sets of piping l0 spaced from end to end along the roll. In any event, the blow-out passages 68 should be spaced fairly closely, preferably about three inches apart, so that a relatively low pressure will be sufficient to strip the binder board 29 from the roll. The pipe 14 may be connected, as through a slip joint 15 adjacent the hub, with compressed air from any suitable source through a valve 16 and connection pipes 18.

When the plyboard 24 has been wound up to the proper thickness, and when the insert 88 is about in the position shown in Figure 1, the valve '56 is opened either manually or automatically, and air is supplied through the pipe -14 and piping l9 and chamber 88 to the blow-out passages 86. The force of the air strips the plyboard from the roll 2 and the weight of this part is sufiicient to continue the strippingtill the entire sheet of plyboard is removed.

The apparatus for automatically operating the valve 16 is best shown in Figure 5. As shown clearly in this figure a frame comprising a pair of arms 88 is pivoted to a suitable support 8| as by the pivot pins 82, the vertical positions of the I arms 88 being determined by an adjustment screw 88 which bears against a fixed bracket 88. The

.arms 89 may carry bearing blocks 88 in which against a collar 92 located midway along the spool 89. The spool 89 may be driven by the friction disk 99 either by being splined thereto or through the spring 9| which may be secured at one end to the friction disk 98 and at the other end to the collar 92, in which case the collar should be keyed to-the spool 89. By operation of the adjustment screw 83, the roller 88 is located a distance from the accumulation roll 2 corresponding to the desired thickness-of the finished plyboard or shingle stock, so that when the plyboard or shingle stock has been built up to the desired 2,010,308 of the chain 5| passes through a tube 62 closer thickness it will contact the roller 88 and. cause both the roller 88 and the spool 89 to rotate. Secured to the spool 89 in a manner to be wound thereon is a suitable cord 94 which extends around suitably mounted pulleys 95 to a dog 96 which is hinged to a plunger 91 which is slidably mounted in a cylinder 98, as clearly shown in Figure 5. The plunger 97! operates a pivoted lever 99 which is connected as by a cable Hill to a valve handle I03. The valve handle I03 presses against a valve stem I to open the valve 16. The valve stem I may be urged in a closing direction by a suitable spring not shown.

The dog 98 is normally in a lowered position, as shown, but when the cord 95 is wound up on the spool 89 this draws the dog 96 to a horizontal position, at which position it is stopped as by a suitable stop member H8 which engages the under side of the support member M2 on which the cylinder 99 is mounted. A spring may be provided to aid in shifting the dog to its lower position. Also mounted on this support member I I2 is a cylinder I id in which is slidably mounted a plunger H6, normally urged (by a spring not shown) in a direction to engage a cam disk H8 which is keyed to the shaft 8. The cam disk H8 is provided with a raised portion I20 which engages the plunger H6 and thrusts it in a direction toward the plunger 91. Ordinarily this has no effect because the dog 96 is out of the path of movement of plunger H6, but when the dog 96 is raised to the horizontal position it is aligned with the plungers H8 and 91 and therefore the plunger H6 strikes the dog 98 and through it actuates the plunger 97, thereby actuating the lever 99, cable I80 and valve handle we, opening the valve 18 to cause air to be supplied to pipes 78 and 19. The position of the raised portion I20 of the cam is preferably such that it strikes the shaft H6 and opens the When the plyboard has been entirely stripped,

its weight is sufilcient so that it tears itself off from the new paper web as it drops to the table or guide 24. The new paper web therefore sticks to the accumulation roll 2 and winds up on the roll to form a new layer of plyboard.

The plyboard will be delivered by the conveyor 22 to a convenient location, at which it may be cut into the desired sizes, flattened and allowed to set. To save cutting, the paper making ma chine may be deckled in any well known manner to cause it to form separate continuous strips of the paper web. When this is done, the cutting and stripping apparatus will function just as well as before, though as a matter of caution it is best to so locate the blow-out passages 66 so that they will all be covered. In the past, the use of deckling in conjunction with such machines has been impractical because it required two stripping operations and therefore required two crews of men to do the stripping quickly enough, if indeed it could be done at all under the circumstances.

It is to be understood that many other embodiments of the invention, including some in improved form, will be apparent, and in the course of time more will be devised by those skilled in the art. It is not desired that this invention be limited to the details described, for its scope includes all such forms or improvements as come within the spirit of the following claims, construed as broadly as the prior art will permit.

What is claimed is:

1. In a plyboard making machine, the combination of an accumulation roll, cutting means mounted to rotate with said roll, and adapted and) positively driven to cut the web on said roll from one end to the other of said roll during each revolution of said roll.

2. In a plyboard making machine, the combination of an accumulation roll, cutting means mounted to rotate with said roll, and adapted and positively driven to cut the web on said roll from one end to the other of said roll during each revolution of said roll; means for causing said cutting means to recede from the position of said web when the cutting means passes the point of contact of said winding roll with other parts of the apparatus to prevent injury thereto.

3. In a plyboard making machine, the combination of an accumulation roll, cutting means mounted to rotate with said roll, and adapted to cut the web on said roll substantially from one end to the other; said cutting means being adapted to recede from the position of said web when the cutting means passes the point of contact of "said accumulation roll with other parts of the apparatus to prevent injury thereto; and said cutting means comprising an endless chain carrying a knifecontinuously secured thereon.

4. In a plyboard making machine, the combination of an accumulation roll, cutting means mounted to rotate with said roll, and adapted to cut the web on said roll substantially from one end to the other; said cutting means being adapted to recede from the position of said web when the cutting means passes the point of contact of said accumulation roll with other parts of the apparatus to prevent injury thereto; said cutting means comprising an endless chain carrying two knives thereon, one spaced half a chain length from the other; and means for rotating said chain one-half length for every revolution of the roll.

5. In a plyboard making machine, the combination of an accumulation roll, cutting means mounted to rotate with said roll, and adapted to cut the web on said roll substantially from one end to the other; said cutting means being adapted to recede from the position of said web when the cutting means passes the point of contact of said accumulation roll with, other parts of the apparatus to prevent injury thereto, and said cutting means comprising an endless chain carrying two knives thereon, one spaced half a chain length from the other; and means for rotating said chain one-half length for every revolution of the roll; said means including sprockets sufficiently large so that the knives can be traveling around said sprockets during the entire period when there would otherwise be danger of the knives injuring other parts of the apparatus.

(5. In a plyboard making machine, the combination of an accumulation roll, cutting means mounted to rotate with said roll, and adapted to cut the web on said roll substantially from one end to the other, said cutting means comprising an endless'chain carrying a knife continuously secured thereon.

'7. In a plyboard making machine, the combination of an accumulation roll, cutting means mounted to rotate with said roll, and adapted to cut the web on said roll by movement substantially from one end to the other of said roll, said cut ting means having a movement which is only lengthwise of the roll while it engages said web and while it is between the ends of said roll.

8. In a plyboard making machine the combination of an accumulation roll, means for automatically cutting the plyboard wound on said roll, and means for stripping said plyboard from said roll; said means including a plurality of blowing said valve.

9. In a plyboard making machine the combination of an accumulation roll, means for automati cally cutting the plyboard wound on said roll, and means for stripping said plyboard from said roll; said means including a plurality of blow-out passages located near the line of cutting, and means including a valve and conduits of small volume within the roll for supplying compressed air to said blow-out passages with sufiicient force to blow the plyboard from said roll at that point so thoroughly that it will continue to separate by its own weight and at low enough pressure to avoid blowing holes through said plyboard; a gauge for determining when the material on the accumulation rollhas reached a given thickness, and operating means ioropening said valve and including a connecting member which must be in a connecting position to make said operating means effective, but which is normally in a nonconnecting position, and is moved by said gauge to a connecting position when said given thickness is reached.

10- In a plyboard making machine the combiz nation of an accumulation roll, means for automatically cutting the plyboard wound on said roll, and means [or stripping said plyboard from said roll; said means including a plurality of blow-out passages located near the line of cutting, and means including a valve and conduits of small volume within the roll for supplying com- .pressed air to said blow-out passages with sufficient force to blow the plyboard from said roll at that point so thoroughly that it will continue to separate by its own weight and at low enough pressure to avoid blowing holes through said plyboard; a gauge for determining when the material on the accumulation roll has reached a given thickness, operating means for opening said valve and including a connecting member which must be in a connecting position to make said operating means effective, but which is normally in a nonconnecting position, and is moved by sa...*-. gauge to a connecting position when said given thickness is'reached; and means rotating with said accumulation roll and tending to actuat said operating means whenever the accumulation roll is in a given angular position suitable for the said roll; said means including a plurality of blow-out passages located near the line ofcutting, means including a valve and conduits of small volume within the roll for supplying compressed air to said blow-out passages with sufiicient force to blow the plyboard from said roll at that point so thoroughly that it will continue to separate byits own weight and at low enough pressure to avoid blowing holes through said plyboard; a gauge for determining when the material on the accumulation roll has reached a given thickness, and means controllable by said gauge for operating said valve, and turning means for causing the operation of the valve to occur only when the line of cutting is on the lower portion of the roll small volume within the roll for supplying compressed air to said blow-out passages with sufficient force to blow the plyboard from said roll at that point so thoroughly that it will continue to separate by its own weight and at low enough pressure to avoid blowing holes through said plyboard; a gauge for determining when the material on the accumulation roll has reached a given thickness, operating means for opening. said valve and including a connecting member which must be in a connecting position to make said operating means effective, but which is normally in anon-connecting position, and is moved by said gauge to a connecting position when said given thickness is reached; and means rotating with said accumulation roll and tending to actuate said operating means whenever the accumulation roll is in a given angular position such that the line of cutting is on the lower portion of the roll so that the force of gravity will draw the initially stripped portion of the plyboard away from the roll.

' 13. In a plyboard making'machine the combination of an accumulation roll, means for automatically cutting the plyboard 'wound on said roll, and means for stripping said plyboard from said roll; said means including a plurality of blow-out passages located near the line of cutting, and means including a valve and conduits for supplying compressed air to said blowout passages with suificient force to blow the plyboard from said roll at that point and at low enough pressure to avoid blowing holes through said plyboard; a gauge for determining when the material on the accumulation roll has reached a given thickness, operating means for opening said valve and including a connecting member which must be in a connecting, position to make said operating means effective, but which is normally in a non-connecting position, and is moved by said gauge to a connecting position when said given thickness is reached; and means rotating with said accumulation roll and tending to actuate said operating means whenever the accumulation roll is in a given angular position suitable for the commencement of the stripping process.

14. In a plyboard making machine, the combination of an accumulation roll; means for automatically cutting the plyboard wound'on said roll; means for stripping said plyboard from said roll, said means including a plurality of blow-out passages located near the line of cutting; means including a valve and conduits of small volume within the roll for supplying compressed air to said blow-out passages with suiiicient force to blow the plyboard from said roll at that point so thoroughly that it will continue to separate by its own weight and at low enough pressure to avoid blowing holes through said plyboard, said conduits preventing the spread of compressed air through the roll as a whole and said automatic cutting means being efi'ective to have the plyboard cut substantia ly through its thickness by the time the stripping takes place; a gauge for determining when the material on the accumulation roll has reached agiven thickness; and means controllable by said gauge for operating said valve.

15. In a plyboard making machine the combination of an accumulation roll; means for automatically cutting the plyboard wound on said. roll; means for stripping said plyboard from said roll, said means including a plurality of blow-out passages located near the line of cutting; means including conduits of small volume within the roll for supplying compressed air to said blowout passages with suficient force to blow the plyboard from said roll at that point so thoroughly that it will continue to separate by its own weight and in so doing sever any layer of the plyboard which may remain uncut and at low enough pressure to avoid blowing holes through said plyboard, said conduits preventing the spread of compressed air through the roll as a whole, and said automatic cutting means being effective to have the plyboard cut substantially through its thickness by the time the stripping takes place; a gauge for determining when the material on the accumulation roll has reached a given thickness; and means controllable by said gauge for operating said valve.

16. In a plyboard making machine the combination of an accumulation roll; means including a knife which makes a stroke across the roll withevery revolution of the roll for automatically cutting the plyboard wound on said roll; means for stripping said plyboard from said roll, said means including a plurality of blow-out passages located near the line of cutting; means including a valve and conduits of small volume within the roll for supplying compressed air to said blow-out passages during the initial portion of a stroke of said knife with sufficient force to sever the uncut layer and blow the plyboard from said roll at that point so thoroughly that it will continue to separate by its own weight, and at low enough pressure to avoid blowing holes through said plyboard, said conduits preventing the spread of compressed air through the roll as a whole, and said automatic cutting means being effective to have the plyboard cut substam tially through its thickness by the time the stripping takes place; a gauge for determining when the material on the accumulation roll has reached a given thickness; and means controllable by said gauge for operating said valve.

ARTHUR G. LEONARD, JR. 

